Another Giveaway!

Head on over to Theo's blog to enter the giveaway she's hosting for her first blogaversary!

Today might be Thursday...

but it's MY Friday!

This evening Mike & I are headed out to visit for a couple of days with his sister, Jackie. We haven't been to her place for a little over a year, so I'm excited about spending some time there. Jackie is a high school chemistry teacher (& more than a little brilliant). I always enjoy time talking with her b/c she knows lots of computer stuff & she's an excellent cook. Our conversations topics range far & wide so it's always entertaining!

Then we will get to see Mike's other sibs on Sunday afternoon at his other sister's house. Gwen & Jason are having a big party for Canton, their son who will be turning a whooping one year old! So bring on the end of the work day & let the good times get started! Only about 3 hours to go...

Small Confession: I have been a teensy bit disappointed with my first week with only one job. Unfortunately I am definitely the type to build things up in my mind & of course I develop huge expectations about how I think things are going to be. I'm sure that's why I feel a little disappointed right now. The truth is, we spent a lot of time away from home every evening this week. Monday night we tried to work on my mom's computer. It has a vicious virus; recovery is ongoing. Wednesday night was church. As a result, I'm still tired. My house isn't any cleaner. I still didn't develop a menu plan for the week (so we were definitely eating in scrounge mode all week - yuck!). I still didn't go running or exercise much. It has felt like a two job week.

Ugh. I wasn't going to go on a big complaining rant, but I kinda just did. Oops!

Now for the positives - b/c yes, there are definitely some positives!

We did get the leaves all raked up in our yard. The laundry is caught up. I have washed dishes every night so there are not any dirty dished stacked up on every available kitchen counter space. I did get to go shop & get some great deals this week. Mike & I have spent much more time together which equals good times, good talks, & good feelings.

I guess we will see what next week brings. I have some lofty goals (AGAIN!). I'm sure you're not surprised. Until then, I'm going to enjoy this party-all-the-time-weekend!

What are your weekend plans? Anything fun going on out there?

I have been enjoying this regular eight hour work day Monday! Usually I would have to go to the second job for the evening shift. Monday tends to be the busiest day of the week in a pharmacy so I was almost always scheduled to work. I am so glad that today I am planning to go home at 3 pm & enjoy the evening! Don't worry ~ there are chores to do, but that's just fine with me. I'm going to do some laundry, maybe rake some leaves, cook something for dinner & relax!

But the real reason I am posting under the Works of God banner is b/c the Lord has done some interesting things in our lives lately. The very next day after I decided that it was time to say adios to working two jobs, Mike had a meeting at this work. He knew that they would have jobs to complete until Christmas but what he didn't know was that there were so many jobs to get done that they would be on mandatory overtime until Christmas. Unfortunately that means that Mike will have the long days now, but he will at least get paid overtime for the extra effort. The income that we will lose from my second job will be more than covered by his overtime pay. Jehovah Jireh! Only the Lord knows what will happen in January. We are praying that more work will come in for them. As we all know, the Lord is more than faithful to meet our needs. I'm excited to see just what He has in store!

Recent Happenings

The month of October has simply FLOWN by! I feel a little dizzy from the ride, if you know what I mean?

I love autumn. I just kind of struggle with dreading winter as it approaches. This year I have tried to relax a little, enjoy the changing leaves & the fall activities. Mike & I had a blast the first weekend of the month, going to an apple festival & then a pioneer village. The next weekend we celebrated my dad's birthday with a full-on turkey dinner (bless my mom's heart - she'll fix anybody's favorite meal for their birthday!). The third weekend I took a much-anticipated trip to Tennessee to visit with some wonderful college buddies - the Dr. Pepper Group.

We all gathered at Christie & Ryan's house in Nashville. I was really happily surprised to realize that it was not nearly as long of a trip as I had anticipated. Stephanie rode down with me & we had a blast catching up. You know you are with a great friend when you can drive a little over 4 hours & not have a lull in the conversation :-) Rachel came down from Michigan with her three sons & that rounded out our party. All together we had five adults and eight kiddos. If Steph had brought her two boys we would have been outnumbered two to one!

We spent all day Friday conversating, looking at my wedding pictures, encouraging one another & catching up. It was great. That night we went to Opry Mills (the huge shopping mall) & the Opryland Hotel. We walked through all of the atriums - it is a beautiful place! After dinner at Applebee's we headed back to Christie's for some more visiting. It's amazing how much we find to talk about!

Saturday I was ready to head back to my husband, but I was glad for the time away. Just a little pinch of time apart makes me appreciate the time together so much more.

That day was the beginning of revival meetings at my church. I was more than a little frustrated about the timing of my schedule in relation to the meetings. I missed the first night b/c of the TN trip. I got to attend all day on Sunday, but then I missed Monday & Tuesday due to work; I missed Wednesday as well b/c it was my turn to help in the nursery. The Lord was still very good to teach me some things in Sunday's meetings. The speaker spent just a few minutes teaching about Martha & Mary, but it was enough to really convict me about the priorities I have concerning my time. Frankly, I am just working TOO MUCH! When we got married Mike left it up to me to determine if I would continue working my second job. It just 'made sense' to me to keep the job until my car is paid off (March '10), especially since Mike's job is so month to month right now. I thought that I could certainly juggle all of my responsibilities plus the extra work hours for the next few months, right? Wrong. So wrong. I hadn't even really prayed about it. It just 'made sense' to me, so I was doing it. I was so convicted about that lack of surrender. I was also convicted about the things that were not getting done b/c of my frantic schedule, my exhaustion, & my feelings of being overwhelmed. All of that to say, tomorrow night is my last shift at the second job. I am so happy about the additional time I will have to do what is highest priority in my life - getting to know my Lord better by spending time with Him consistently, spending more time with my husband (we are newlyweds, you know!), and managing our household better.

*do you get the feeling that a lot has been going on??? *grin*

So, after the meetings & the resignation had been handed in, I left work at my full time job Thursday evening to do some frantic grocery shopping before some other college buddies came to town to visit. Roxanna & Bekah got to my house around suppertime on Thursday & we visited, talked, shopped, & enjoyed each other until Sunday morning. On Friday we drove up to Lafayette to visit Becky b/c she couldn't get to my place. We enjoyed the day with her & her family, getting to see their new house for the first time. Then on Saturday we headed to the outlet mall & Bekah got some serious shopping done! Clothes, shoes & other goodies to help get her ready to go to the mission field of Japan in January.

Here's a pic of the four of us at Becky's house. We always have so much fun & so many laughs when we are together. Thank the Lord for the blessing of good friends.

And that's a quick recap of this month. Whooo! I'm a little tired :-) I think it's always a good idea to take a moment or two & think back over the last week, month, year & see what all the Lord has done & what all He has brought me through. By the way, exactly one year ago yesterday Mike asked me to marry him & a year ago today I was flying to Vienna to visit Missy - wow!

Kefir Update

I have officially made it through my first jug of kefir. I bought the unsweetened, unflavored kind b/c frankly, it has a lot of calories already! The first time I tried it I just about choked. My goodness - it is sour! I was in a hurry so I shoved some frosted mini wheats in the cup & tried to get it down like that. Not a recommended method, let me tell you! Since then, I think I have perfected my kefir smoothie skills. Or at least I've developed some kefir smoothie skills.

The first thing I did was buy some juice. We are not juice drinkers so I immediately began to worry about the money we were going to waste b/c the juice would probably never get drank. But I figured I would need at least a splash in each smoothie to help with the kefir's thick consistency. *shudder* After a little more thought I decided to freeze the juice in an ice cube tray. I kinda hate regular ice cubes b/c they melt and then your drink is watery. Yuck. And that's where my inspiration has ended. I just make a simple drink with my juice cubes, kefir, a splash of juice, & maybe just a dash of sugar. I don't really like it. It doesn't especially taste good. I'm sure I should branch out by adding some frozen berries. I bought some the other night I just can't decide if raspberries would go well with apple juice?

As far as whether or not the kefir is keeping me healthy, I guess so. I haven't been sick yet (thank God!). And with the way the flu is seeming to circulate this year, I am extremely grateful I haven't gotten it. An additional unexpected benefit of the kefir is that it seems to help keep my stomach working better. I won't elaborate, but it does seem to be beneficial.

I am still accepting suggestions regarding how to get the stuff down my throat - bring on any smoothie suggestions!

Works of God Monday

My last post was all about my crazy hectic schedule & I have to admit that I seriously wondered how I was going to get through all those hours of work. To recap, I worked 10 days in a row and I worked 3 fourteen hours days in a row. I was dreading it with every fiber of my being. I was afraid I would come down with some sort of illness (it always seems to strike when I am stressed). I was worried I would be too beat to enjoy my trip to Nashville, TN to visit Christy, Steph, & Rachel. I was worried. I was afraid. I was anxious.

And every morning my Lord met me at my bedside. I received grace & strength from Him to make it through each of those work days. And I didn't plod along, barely holding my head up. I was joyful; I handled difficult tasks with a smile; I was able to drive for hours without going to sleep at the wheel.

One of the friends in our group that usually makes our little reunions is Adele. I was thinking of her on Monday morning & how I would miss her this year. She was unable to join us due to the responsibilities of deputation as they prepare to go to the mission field of Slovakia. One of Dellie's favorite hymns is "Day By Day." As I thought of her the words to that hymn flooded my mind - especially the line that says, "...as thy days thy strength shall be in measure." That thought set the tone for the rough work days. As the hours ticked by I was reminded of truths that I already knew well (but needed to be reminded of). The Lord has never left me alone. He has never left me without the strength for the task that lies before me. I can never praise Him enough for the way He cares for me.

Are You Kidding Me???

Oops...I think that might have been my expression when I checked the schedule at my second job last Friday night. The work week there runs Sunday through Monday. I didn't have to report for duty last week until Friday night. I knew I was supposed to work Saturday and that was going to be my 11 hours for the week (5 1/2 on Friday night & 5 1/2 on Saturday morning). Wrong! I was scheduled a full eight hour day on Saturday. Ugh, but you know, I can roll with it was what I thought. Then I looked a little lower on the bulletin board for the next week's schedule. Major angry frowny face took over my visage at that point. I was on the schedule for Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, AND Wednesday. Six hours on Sunday plus 5 1/2 hours on Monday through Wednesday = 22 1/2 hours! That is just a little more than the 11 hours per week that my manager & I had agreed upon as the hours I would work. Ugh, ugh, double ugh!

One of the other pharmacy techs decided she would take a vacation this week. Plus our pharmacy manager is on vacation which means that we will be using floater pharmacists all week so there can be no scrimping on technician coverage. We only have two part-time techs including me. The other part-timer is a college student & she is 'overloaded' with assignments this week. So I get to tote the load! Today is my first of three 14 hour days and day #8 without a day off. *sigh* Do you feel sorry for me yet? 'Cause there's one more thing! At my full-time job my boss is on vacation, too. So the other pharmacist is covering all the hours - open to close, Monday through Friday - and he tends to get a bit grumpy, too. It's been all sunshine here today, let me tell you!

The bright spot in my week - Thursday Steph & I take off for Tennessee to get together with Christy & Rachel (college buddies). I'm very sad to leave Mike, especially since I will hardly get to see him for the next three days. It will be wonderful to catch up with the girls, though. And I'm so grateful my husband understands that.

How is your week shaping up? Anybody doing anything fun or fall-ish? It's a beautiful, crisp autumn day here with the leaves just starting to look colorful...